Mapex Drums & Percussion

I have been playing for eight years and the Venus series was my first kit. I have used it in a number of bands including punk rock, doom metal (early playing), indi/prog rock, and finally in funk and jazz bands. Picked this up at the local music shop for about $550. First off, I can't say enough about the bass drum it has great sound/resonance for live gigs and often I use it instead of my 1976 Ludwig set's bass drum for recording purposes. Also, durability is a huge asset to the Venus series. back when I was just starting out and didn't know how to properly care for my drums in transit to and from gigs this set held strong and continues to do so to this day! Of course these days I know better than to not use cases and/or keep the drums in a hot/cold car for an extended period of time (it really pains me to of think how dumb I was back then). The stock snare and pedal were trash. But after all you normally buy a set for the toms and bass drum (occasionally a good snare comes with but usually its terrible stock stuff). Replace those items and it sounded great (also replacing the stock heads with Remo coated ambassadors helped a lot). Also the tom mount configuration was quite cumbersome and eventually I just switched to a free mounted system (which I highly recommend). Great, already covered that! Great first kit too bad they don't make them anymore I would for sure buy one for my nephew. Great playability too! This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Purchase the mapex M series, at andertons music shop in the uk for £499. This kit offered all the critera i was looking for in a mid range kit and more. The overall appearace and quaility of the kit stood out, the gloss finsih on the maple outside wood of the toms, not only makes the kit look professtional and expensive, but provides a long term high quality, whilst reduces the amount of scatches and damage. In addition the kit sound fantastic! The toms provide a deep clear sound, whilst the snare is still sharp and snappy but also very clear and unquic. The hardware is solid and the chunky two handle boom stands mantains an excellant sound for the holding of the cymbals and adds to the proffessional look of the kit. Also the remo rims are steady and add to the excellant maple wood tom sound. There really isn't much to say, however this kit can take a long time to tune to a perfect sound, especally the snare. But easy for any experienced drummer. One of the best parts of the kits, beats the peral exports hands down by far, trust me. The peral export compared to the mapex m series seem cheap and crappy. FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Purchased from MusiciansFriend.com for $1550 This kit has a lot of nice touches. Very thin maple/walnut shells. No extraneous holes in any of the shells -- the tom holder mounts on top of the bass drum, tom mounts are attached underneath two lugs on each tom; bass drum spurs are attached underneath tom lugs. All lugs have rubber gaskets to eliminate metal on wood contact. Premium heads are included (Remo ambassadors on both the batter and resonant side; PowerStroke 3 on batter and PowerStroke 3 Resonant on resonant side). Includes Mapex chain drive bass pedal; two cymbal stands that convert between boom and straight stands; snare stand and a snare. The snare contains adjustment knobs on both ends for fine tuning. The finish is smooth and professional. Bass drum hoops are solid wood and nicely finished. The feet on the floor tom are spring loaded. (Seriously) There are memory locks everywhere! The drums sing! Cymbal stands are sturdy but only single braced. Cheesey stickers on the metal tom hoops detract from the otherwise professional appearance -- they are easily removed. Ball and socket tom holder requires some arm strength to adjust; toms will move without a lot of tightening. Very good quality and construction. Shells are very thin, easy to tune and resonate on the ITS mounting system. Tom mounting system is very sturdy. Bearing edges are very smooth and well crafted. Shell interiors are well sanded with no rough spots. This is a very nice kit for a studio or gigging drummer. The shells are well constructed; very thin; and resonate well. Hardware is adequate for road work. This is an excellent value for the dollar. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com